Daz Studio Pro BETA - version 4.9.0.44!

Comments

That was the original DS-Connect download directory - I don't know if they plan on changing it at this point, although it does sound like it no longer has to be in the first mapped studio format content directory.

...well, when I see the term "cloud" in any path, to me it says the data's kept on a server somewhre and not resident on my own system meaning I need a net connection while working which takes extra processing resources.

It's on your hard drive...I do wish they'd start naming these things better...maybe they should have used Fred or Ignatius or something.

That was the original DS-Connect download directory - I don't know if they plan on changing it at this point, although it does sound like it no longer has to be in the first mapped studio format content directory.

...well, when I see the term "cloud" in any path, to me it says the data's kept on a server somewhre and not resident on my own system meaning I need a net connection while working which takes extra processing resources.

It's on your hard drive...I do wish they'd start naming these things better...maybe they should have used Fred or Ignatius or something.

That was the original DS-Connect download directory - I don't know if they plan on changing it at this point, although it does sound like it no longer has to be in the first mapped studio format content directory.

...well, when I see the term "cloud" in any path, to me it says the data's kept on a server somewhre and not resident on my own system meaning I need a net connection while working which takes extra processing resources.

It's on your hard drive...I do wish they'd start naming these things better...maybe they should have used Fred or Ignatius or something.

That was the original DS-Connect download directory - I don't know if they plan on changing it at this point, although it does sound like it no longer has to be in the first mapped studio format content directory.

...well, when I see the term "cloud" in any path, to me it says the data's kept on a server somewhre and not resident on my own system meaning I need a net connection while working which takes extra processing resources.

It's on your hard drive...I do wish they'd start naming these things better...maybe they should have used Fred or Ignatius or something.

That was the original DS-Connect download directory - I don't know if they plan on changing it at this point, although it does sound like it no longer has to be in the first mapped studio format content directory.

...well, when I see the term "cloud" in any path, to me it says the data's kept on a server somewhre and not resident on my own system meaning I need a net connection while working which takes extra processing resources.

It's on your hard drive...I do wish they'd start naming these things better...maybe they should have used Fred or Ignatius or something.

+1. From my point of view, 'cloud' means 'someone else's disk drive I have no control over'.

That was the original DS-Connect download directory - I don't know if they plan on changing it at this point, although it does sound like it no longer has to be in the first mapped studio format content directory.

...well, when I see the term "cloud" in any path, to me it says the data's kept on a server somewhre and not resident on my own system meaning I need a net connection while working which takes extra processing resources.

It's on your hard drive...I do wish they'd start naming these things better...maybe they should have used Fred or Ignatius or something.

...10 or WIn7? (I use the latter).

The [Your Content Folder Name]/data/cloud/ folder structure should be the same regardless of the windows version being used.

I agree that the term 'cloud' is used to describe too many things these days and that 'The Cloud' is equated with information and/or services that are remote to the users machine. I personally face the challenge everyday of making everyone happy and that is rarely possible. So I put it out there that we all try to work with the development team to make a better product that functions the best way it can for as many people as possible. As I stated above, I understand the confusion, but a folder name is the least of the problems the current public beta faces.

<Warning! Humor ahead>

Remember, don't sweat the little stuff and don't lick the sweaty stuff. You will be both happier and healthier.

That was the original DS-Connect download directory - I don't know if they plan on changing it at this point, although it does sound like it no longer has to be in the first mapped studio format content directory.

...well, when I see the term "cloud" in any path, to me it says the data's kept on a server somewhre and not resident on my own system meaning I need a net connection while working which takes extra processing resources.

Daz is not providing "cloud storage" or "cloud subscription," they're providing "cloud delivery" from a "cloud distribution network." This does not mean you do not have your data locally. As Daz has stated before, you do not have to be online to use your purchased products once they have been installed.

Use of the "Cloud" is referring to the fact that "the cloud" (a Content Distribution Network - CDN; i.e. many servers working in concert around the globe) served as the source of the data that is ultimately stored locally on the user's machine, rather than the Daz servers specifically -which is what Install Manager and Product Library use. Use of "the cloud" (a CDN) is one of the reasons why downloads are consistantly so much faster around the globe through Daz Connect than the other two delivery mechanisms.

The data for a product only lives "in the cloud" until its downloaded/installed locally, which Daz Studio must do in order to actually load the files. It's the same for Install Manager and/or Product Library, except they communicate with Daz servers directly instead of through "the cloud."

... though I'm still not happy about the offline file system of near impossible to find textures/Obj/etc..As it's tied into sku numbers rather than actual human names not spat out by automatons.

In the change log theer are entries stating that they have added an option to the right-click menu in various containers so that you can open an OS window on the product folder in \Data\Cloud, to get to the textures etc. That was a later build than the current beta.

Thanks for putting my concerns to rest, I'm much more confident in which Daz has chosen to direct it's company's direction!

I don't know if this is the right place for reporting issues, if not please copy/paste this to the right place - I'm not spending more time on Beta issues.

I tried 4.9 for a few hours last night, but gave up after having issues with the content management system within 4.9.

It did import my categories from my 4.8 db, but about half of the item references were bad and were unable to resolve to anything.

The "new" metadata tag was messed up as things that were not new got tagged as new and things that were new (I tried installing a couple of items after the 4.9 install/db migration) did not get tagged as new.

I stopped the CMS from within 4.9's content management interface, but was unable to get it started again according to 4.9. I tried starting from within the 4.9 interface, and starting via the CMS's own windows 7 start menu item. 4.9 was unable to connect to CMS regardless from that point forward.

I did several iterations of unistalling/reinstalling 4.9 and even uninstalling the CMS and reinstalling the CMS (even the beta version of the CMS). Nothing I did made 4.9 able to connect to CMS again. I ran 4.8 after all this and it seems to be working fine. So I've given up on the 4.9 beta. Maybe I'll try 4.9 again some months after it's been promoted to release. The above took several hours, that's all the time I have to work with this Beta.

Also, when I attempted to load a scene created in 4.8 in 4.9, 4.9 was unable to locate several files. I forget whether I had remembered to set all my base content directories first (I have multiple runtimes I use), so that may have been the problem. The problems I had with CMS occurred before and after I set my base content directories.

I sure hope these issues can be resolved. The prospect of having to completely redo my content installs and/or classifications presents a serious roadblock in considering moving to the next version otherwise.

Also, when I attempted to load a scene created in 4.8 in 4.9, 4.9 was unable to locate several files. I forget whether I had remembered to set all my base content directories first (I have multiple runtimes I use), so that may have been the problem.

It probably was — the way the beta versions work now, they're installed separately from the current release version, and they use their own setup files, not the ones you're already using in 4.8 or whichever. This means if this was the first time you've used one of the new-style betas, you don't have any links to your existing content folders or UI setup; everything falls back to the plain unvarnished default, until you manually change the settings for content, UI, etc. in the beta to match the existing settings in the current release.

Remember, too, that a beta isn't the complete ready-to-go new version, it's a final-chance-to-test does-it-really-work-in-real-life can-the-users-break-anything-else version. We won't see anything close to the final 4.9 until we see something labelled as a Release Candidate version.

That was the original DS-Connect download directory - I don't know if they plan on changing it at this point, although it does sound like it no longer has to be in the first mapped studio format content directory.

...well, when I see the term "cloud" in any path, to me it says the data's kept on a server somewhre and not resident on my own system meaning I need a net connection while working which takes extra processing resources.

Daz is not providing "cloud storage" or "cloud subscription," they're providing "cloud delivery" from a "cloud distribution network." This does not mean you do not have your data locally. As Daz has stated before, you do not have to be online to use your purchased products once they have been installed.

Use of the "Cloud" is referring to the fact that "the cloud" (a Content Distribution Network - CDN; i.e. many servers working in concert around the globe) served as the source of the data that is ultimately stored locally on the user's machine, rather than the Daz servers specifically -which is what Install Manager and Product Library use. Use of "the cloud" (a CDN) is one of the reasons why downloads are consistantly so much faster around the globe through Daz Connect than the other two delivery mechanisms.

The data for a product only lives "in the cloud" until its downloaded/installed locally, which Daz Studio must do in order to actually load the files. It's the same for Install Manager and/or Product Library, except they communicate with Daz servers directly instead of through "the cloud."

Excellent explanation Cris!

Hopefully this information will help people understand the entire process more clearly.

If someone else could replicate the issue on their system that might help to confirm this.

- - -

Additonal information:
Just uninstalling Genesis 3 Starter Essentials did not solve the issue.
Therefore I started to suspect that the error may be triggered by other products.
To test this I added G3F to the scene and then uninstalled all products with DAZ connect that were considered compatible with G3F.
Then the Duplicate ID Error was gone.
I started to install a selection of products and then the error was there again.
I kept uninstalling smaller selection of products until the error was gone to narrow down the source...

It seems the duplicate ID is for some reason caused by the product:
SKU 22162 - Victoria 7 Attitude Expressions

Well, the new beta 4.9.0.54 is tagged as a Release Candidate, so it might not be much longer. I'll say again what I said at the last major-changes-are-afoot update; considering how much still needs to be worked on, if the final release still isn't out in a month, I won't be too surprised. If it's out in less than a week, I'll be worried.

Well, the new beta 4.9.0.54 is tagged as a Release Candidate, so it might not be much longer. I'll say again what I said at the last major-changes-are-afoot update; considering how much still needs to be worked on, if the final release still isn't out in a month, I won't be too surprised. If it's out in less than a week, I'll be worried.

We can't offer (or better stated, we won't offer) updated meta data through DIM and the zip method because of one simple reason. The update of metadata is a relatively small change to the package which would require re-downloading the entire product. Often this would be hundreds of megabytes, if not gigabytes, of transfer, per product, just for the metadata which can come down in a 10KB payload essentially. The bandwidth it would generate as well as customer support queries as to "why was X updated and nothing seemed to change?", and how many people wouldn't be able to take advantage of it due to bandwidth caps, makes it unrealistic to do.

Why can you not send the updated metadata and then update the downloaded archive? Other programs can do this; why not DIM?

Alternatively why not store metadata outside of the archive?

Because DAZ would rather resort to technically nonsensical excuses to make DAZ Connect seem more appealing?

We can't offer (or better stated, we won't offer) updated meta data through DIM and the zip method because of one simple reason. The update of metadata is a relatively small change to the package which would require re-downloading the entire product. Often this would be hundreds of megabytes, if not gigabytes, of transfer, per product, just for the metadata which can come down in a 10KB payload essentially. The bandwidth it would generate as well as customer support queries as to "why was X updated and nothing seemed to change?", and how many people wouldn't be able to take advantage of it due to bandwidth caps, makes it unrealistic to do.

Why can you not send the updated metadata and then update the downloaded archive? Other programs can do this; why not DIM?

Alternatively why not store metadata outside of the archive?

Because DAZ would rather resort to technically nonsensical excuses to make DAZ Connect seem more appealing?

Araneldon, this was explained quite in-depthly elsewhere by a Daz representative. Its not a great big conspiracy to force anyone to use anything. I'll see if I can find it.

Still using the Daz 4.8 version. Constant problem I have when I install new content. The Meadata shows up in the DIM, but not in the DS.

The installs look fine. I can use the search and find items in the DIM.

I do a re-import MetaData from DS 4.8 and still the items don't show in Content Library or Smart Content.

This is been a consistent problem.

What about 4.9? Should I install it and hope for the best...or should I work through my issues with DS 4.8 first?

I just Re-imported MetaData 3 times after installing some new content items from Daz3d shop and still not showing up in DS.

Then tried a Re-set Database from Content Database Maintenance and then re-imported metadata... no show.

Are there some considerations about Cloud storage with 4.9 to be aware..
It doesn't matter to me, if Daz wants to keep a repository of my content on their cloud server as long as I can maintain one on my computer in case of server or internet connection problems.

My internet brroadband works most of the time. There are times when it goes down for several hours in my area. It is particularly difficult to get any kind of usage in the early evenings, because so many people get off work and plow the internet until about 11PM. I have adjusted my hours to work around peak usage times for the most part.

What about content management in Carrara, if the files are on cloud server?

It is ok to use just one library for both Studio and Poser files, but they need to be installed properly. Poser files will need to in sub-folders of the "Runtime" folder for them to be recognized as Poser files.

It's OK to have both the Poser and DAZ Studio content folders be the same location, the question was whether the files were showing inside DAZ Studio in the Content Library pane under Poser Formats>Install folder and/or DAZ Studio>Install Folder (which are not depenedent on the content management system, so they act as a check on where the problem lies).